Hotcakes (album)
Hotcakes is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon. Released in 1974, it became one of her biggest selling albums. The album featured the major hits "Mockingbird", a duet with her then-husband James Taylor, and "Haven't Got Time for the Pain". Recorded during her pregnancy with her first child, many of the album's songs reflected Simon's upbeat mood during this period. The album's cover photo, taken by Ed Caraeff, shows the pregnant Simon sitting in a gleamingly white kitchen, smiling brightly and wearing a bohemian white linen dress.
The album went gold immediately and it stayed on the charts for eight months, yet it was initially overshadowed commercially by two other major albums released by Simon's own label, Elektra/Asylum, in the same month, Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark and Bob Dylan's Planet Waves. These took the No. 2 and No. 1 spots, respectively, on the Billboard album chart while Hotcakes peaked at No. 3. Hotcakes went on to sell several hundred thousand more copies than Dylan's album and was listed in the Top 40 of Billboard's Year End Top albums for 1974, while Planet Waves did not make the Top 50.
Reception
, writing in Rolling Stone, stated Simon's..."Hotcakes is playful-sounding with some serious overtones — a balance that best suits her for the time being." He also stated that "'Think I'm Gonna Have a Baby,' 'Forever My Love' and especially 'Haven't Got Time for the Pain' are substantial songs and performances, superior to almost everything else she has so far recorded."William Ruhlmann's more recent review for Allmusic rated the album four out of five stars. Ruhlmann wrote, Hotcakes was "an autobiographical concept album that defined domestic bliss at a time when Simon's listeners also were catching their breath and turning inward." Shortly after its release, Hotcakes was certified Gold by the RIAA, for sales "of one million dollars at manufacturer's level" in the United States. David Geffen, then-president of Elektra/Asylum, was quoted in a 1974 Rolling Stone article that Hotcakes had sold 1 million units in the US up to that point.
Track listing
Credits adapted from the album's liner notesNotes
- signifies a writer by additional lyrics
Personnel
- Carly Simon – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, whistle, backing vocals
- Kenny Ascher – acoustic piano, Hammond organ
- Dr. John – acoustic piano, Hammond organ
- David Spinozza – electric guitar
- James Taylor – acoustic guitar, backing vocals, horn arrangements and conductor, lead vocals
- Bucky Pizzarelli – electric guitar
- Jimmy Ryan – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Robbie Robertson – electric guitar
- Klaus Voormann – bass guitar
- Richard Davis – string bass
- Larry Brean – slap bass
- Rick Marotta – drums
- Jim Keltner – drums
- Jim Gordon – drums
- Billy Cobham – drums
- Andy Newmark – drums
- Russ Kunkel – drums
- Ralph MacDonald – congas, percussion
- George Devens – cabasa
- Paul Buckmaster – string and woodwind arrangements, conductor
- Howard Johnson – baritone saxophone, tuba
- Bobby Keys – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
- Barry Rogers – trombone
- Steve Madaio – trumpet
- Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone
- Lani Groves – backing vocals
- Carl Hall – backing vocals
- Tasha Thomas – backing vocals
- Todd Graff – backing vocals
- Lucy Simon – backing vocals
- Benny Diggs – backing vocals
- Revelation – backing vocals
- Richard Perry – backing vocals
Production
- Producer – Richard Perry
- Engineering and Remixing – Harry Maslin and Bill Schnee
- Assistant Engineer – Blasie Castellano
- Mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab.
- Art Direction and Design – Vincent Cesi at Push Pin Studios.
- Cover Photo – Ed Caraeff
- Centerfold Photo – Vieri Salvadori
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1974 | Pop Albums | 3 |
Album - International
| Year | Country | Position |
| 1974 | Australia | 9 |
| 1974 | Canada | 7 |
| 1974 | Japan | 39 |
| 1974 | United Kingdom | 19 |
Singles - Billboard
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1974 | "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" | Adult Contemporary | 2 |
| 1974 | "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" | Pop Singles | 14 |
| 1974 | "Mockingbird" | Adult Contemporary | 10 |
| 1974 | "Mockingbird" | Pop Singles | 5 |